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I love reunions. Just saying. Especially when it’s a character from the past. Also, PSSST! I’m going to have the pre-order links hopefully up by end of the week, so watch out for them. 😉

Arianwen swallowed hard, her throat tightening with worry. They hadn’t expected the people here to know anything about the goings-on in the capital, but they seemed as informed—possibly more—as they were. Deron stepped out carefully from behind Inghard, offering up a tense smile to the two guards. “Both,” he answered easily. “I’m human, and I have friends who are part o’ the Human Resistance. But ‘dis lot,” he gestured with a thumb, “are part o’ the Immortal Resistance. The point is, we’re all Resistance.”

The older man narrowed his eyes at Deron for a moment, chewing at his lip. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, he gave a curt nod, replying, “Aye, we agree. But it’s all humans here, I don’t think I can let you in. We won’t attack you, but you’ve got to move on. Get going.”

As he and the younger man turned to leave, Arianwen was gripped by a sudden mad idea to run over to him, and her legs pumped forwards before she had a chance to think over her decision. “Nae, lass!” Aodhan cried out as she jogged towards them. Opening her mouth to shout for the older man, her heart leapt into her throat as two hot black barrels appeared in front of her face, the young man’s tense features at the other end.

“We said ‘get going’, immortal. Do as you’re told,” the young man hissed in a faint French accent, his hair blowing gently in the wind that had picked up, scattering dust particles through the air. As if to make his point further, he clicked the safety off on the weapon, and moved forwards enough to make her stagger backwards, her feet scraping against the loose gravel below.

Holding her hands up to show she meant no harm, she shook her head, gazing deep into the man’s eyes. She saw terror there, not the cold, steely gaze she expected of someone guarding an entire fort. Speaking softly, she urged, “Please listen to me. We’re really not here to harm you in any way, or anyone inside. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have to be, I promise you. There is only one thing we want, and that is to bring the Clan to their knees.” Arianwen bit out the last few words, venom from her emotions flavouring each syllable.

The older man spun on his heel and took in the sight of the demoness stood on her own, hands still raised in the air, before marching back across and lowering the younger man’s rifle. “Easy, Pierre, easy,” he soothed. “Let’s not lose our heads. They already said they mean no harm.”

Pierre gave an exasperated sigh, but he slung the gun over his shoulder as his companion asked, giving Arianwen a cold stare. “And you believe them?”

“Yes,” the other man replied, “I believe them. They haven’t tried to attack us in the last few seconds, have they?” Pulling his own rifle onto his back, he clasped his hands in front of his camouflage-covered torso and directed his attention at Arianwen, giving her hands a gentle nod. As she lowered them slowly to her sides, he continued, “My name is Franklin. We’re not making you stay out here because we don’t want you. But there are children inside there, and youngsters who have never been outside the walls of the Castle. Do you have any idea how it feels to be that human and terrified?”

Arianwen drew herself up smartly, smiling broadly. “I do,” she answered honestly. “I wasn’t always an immortal, you know. I was once human, like you all. And Deron here is human, and Psyche is…” She trailed off as she gestured towards her jet-haired friend, struggling to find the right words. “Well, she’s still half-human, anyway.” Turning back to Franklin, she added, “We know, believe me. I used to be a police officer before the war started. I know what people are capable of. And I also know what’s capable if we stand by and do nothing.”

Franklin gave a heavy sigh and squeezed his temples between his forefinger and thumb, before blinking and looking back up at Arianwen with tired eyes. “I’m sorry,” he retorted with a shrug, “there’s nothing I can do. Rules are rules.”

With that, he gestured to his companion, and they both turned to head back to the entrance. “No!” Arianwen begged, breathing heavily. “You have to listen, I—“

“Arianwen! Arianwen Harris?”

The male voice that called out her name from above the watchtower was familiar and hard to place all at once. Her mind buzzing with names of anyone and everyone she had known in her lifetime so far, she gazed up towards the tower and bright blue sky, squinting and using her hand as a shade. An elderly man was leaning over the side of the walls, waving frantically down to her. Narrowing her eyes further, she searched his face, flickering over every wrinkle and line around his shining eyes—it can’t be. It is! Waving excitedly back, she shouted up, “By the gods! Shiner! What the hell are you doing here?” Turning back to Aodhan with a face flushed with happiness, she grinned and cried out, “Aodhan! It’s Shiner!”

The rest of the group exchanged confused looks with each other, watching curiously as Aodhan’s jaw dropped and he raced over to Arianwen’s side. Gazing up with her, he let out a low gasp. “F**k me, it is. I never thought I would see that wee guy again.”

The elderly man disappeared from view, and unintelligible shouts came from the other side of the fort. Cries and yells could be heard making their way down from the air to the ground, and when they hit the bottom the screech of pulling wires echoed into the hazy afternoon air. With a groan, the metal entrance door scraped forwards, heaving up from the ground as the pulleys worked their magic in opening it wide. Arianwen nearly had to cover her ears from the metallic sound as it rose up into the air and revealed the inside of the fort, a crowd of people stood on the other side with wide eyes and frightened expressions.

As the dust cleared, Shiner came striding through the crowd, racing outside to meet his old friend. Arianwen’s lip wobbled before she felt the emotions bubbling up from her chest, and her eyes watered with tears. Holding her arms out wide, she sprinted across and wrapped them around the old man, sobbing with relief—relief that he hadn’t died, relief that she had found him again, and he was safe. She felt the warmth of Aodhan’s hand on her back, and he slapped a hand on Shiner’s shoulder. “Good to see you again, old man,” he said hoarsely, voice thick with feeling.

Breaking the bear-hug, Shiner stood back and smiled broadly at the two before him, wiping his tired eyes with the back of his sleeve. His features were etched with lines and worry, and his once thick hair was thin and grey, but it was definitely still him. “Come on,” he croaked in his Geordie accent. “Let’s get you inside, like. We can talk about why both of us are in the middle of nowhere in the fort.” Giving a wave to the two guards, he beckoned the group forwards.

After glancing nervously at one another, then over to the two demons, the others eventually trudged forwards. They stared forwards, ignoring the two guards in case they changed their minds, and they vanished into the fort as the heavy door slammed down again behind them with a cloud of muddy dust.

Hey, everyone! 🙂 Bit of a post today for a new reviewing group – and we’re looking for reviewers!

Love reading? Love FREE books in the genres you enjoy? Then you need to come over and join the new Facebook group that aims to make reviewing fun for everyone! Pot Luck Reviews needs more reviewers, so just click on the link below and join up. They work almost like ‘blind reviews’, in that you never know what book you’re going to get! Simply state which genres you like reading, how many books you’re happy to review each month, and that’s all there is to it. Each month, you will receive a random book in a genre you love, and all you have to do is give it an honest review.

That’s right – I woke up this morning, opened up my computer, and couldn’t stop grinning when I realised. Amazon has finally made Vigilante of Shadows PERMA-FREE! So what better time than to do a little feature on it? 😉

SUSPENSE/HORROR SEMI-FINALIST IN The Kindle Book Review’s 2013 Best Indie Book Awards!

****
“For readers who like to lose themselves in a darker, more complex world than the one we live in, Vigilante of Shadows is a Paranormal Thriller dream come true!” –Trish Marie Dawson, Author of ‘The Station’ Series, 5 Stars

“I was forcefully grabbed from the get-go, and shoved into a story so fast, I could have gotten whiplash.” –Tara S. Wood, Author of Redemption in Blood, 5 Stars

****

Aodhan clutched uselessly at his head, groaning. He knew it was useless, because the voice was not inside his head. It followed him, skimming across buildings and land. It had followed him since he was sixteen, and it still followed him today, like a memory too horrific to be forgotten…

Aodhan is a shadow-demon, hardened and cold after years of being alone, after his love, his Entwined, was cruelly taken away from him. He has closed his heart to the world, and now spends his life ridding the world of men like those who took his beloved away, an immortal hit-man…

Arianwen Harris is a young DCI, working for York City Police. When a known criminal is found viciously killed, she finds herself trailing a hit-man who has seemed to escape clutches again and again…but she begins to find herself drawn to his dark charms and roguish good looks…

As their two worlds collide, Aodhan and Arianwen find themselves coming together to escape a far greater enemy, one that threatens to create a world far worse than the one they live in. As they battle to hold back the oncoming forces, fate has another plan; one to draw them together and heal their broken pasts together…

*NOTE FOR THE US!* It is showing up as free on my screen (and it’s permafree, so the price will not go up again), but some people have reported that it is showing up still with a price. I’m emailing Amazon about it now, but please give it a few hours before downloading, just in case. If you can still see ‘.99c’ on your screen, please wait until it shows up free!*

This is what I can see, so it’s definitely happening, but might take a few hours to update!

Morning, everyone! 🙂 We all made it through Monday! Woohoo! Now at least we can get on with Tuesday – Top Ten Tuesday, that is! Each Tuesday, I will feature ten of my favourite indie books for your perusal. They won’t all be the same genre, so hopefully there’s something for everyone. And today, I’ve even got a few freebies for you! Woot! 🙂

Lookit that gorgeous cover! And it’s FREE!

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Suspense

Price: PERMA-FREE!

Blurb: Kendra Larkin had everything going in the right direction. Her life was seemingly perfect, and she wouldn’t have changed a thing about it. Unfortunately, the course of her life was about to be forever altered. A tragic rappelling accident lands her on Dr. Adam Chamberlain’s operating table.

She agrees to a deal proposed by a guardian angel to help save the soul of the man who is both her doctor and soulmate. If she is successful, she gets to keep her life. However, she later learns that it isn’t just her life that’s in jeopardy, but her soul as well.

Even with the help of her handsome guardian angel, Rhyan, it seems there is no happy ending in sight. Torn between her newly discovered love of Rhyan, and the undeniable attraction she has for Adam, Kendra finds herself at a crossroad. With Adam’s steadfast rejection of God, and his guardian demon conspiring against her, she fears her soul may already be lost.

Will she find a way to overcome the evil her life is suddenly burdened with? Or will Adam’s guardian demon win both their souls and make Kendra his own personal puppet in Hell?

This is a fantastic YA read, and really hits home with some big issues.

Genre: YA/Fantasy

Price: PERMA-FREE!

Blurb: Piper Willow dies the summer after her high school graduation but she doesn’t make it to Heaven or Hell…instead she finds herself in a spiritual terminal called the Station. She’s given only two choices: Return to Earth as the subconscious for a person in need of some outside assistance, or move on and spend an eternity lost in her own sorrow and pain.

Does Piper have what it takes to save a life – to be the nagging voice inside someone else’s head – or will she fail and end up lost and tormented in limbo…forever?

“Excuse me, Niles…I mean, Mr. Abbott. But, where are we?”
“I’ll explain everything to you dear, just as soon as we reach the Station.”
“What station? We aren’t in the hospital? Where’s my Dad?”
“No Piper, this isn’t the hospital, and your father is at home…he’s fine. Please, follow me.”
He turns away and continues on through the light. I hang my head, staring at my bare feet as we walk. Even though my cuts are gone, I keep rubbing my arm. It’s soothing. I almost bump into Niles when he stops abruptly.
“We’re here,” he says softly.

AND this was nominated for a 2012 RONE award! What more do you need?

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Thriller/Vampires

Price: $2.95

Blurb: *Nominated for a 2012 RONE Award from InD’tale Magazine*

Murder is serious business among vampires. If you kill, so do they. They are the Penitent – a military order among vampire society charged with one task only. Execute the condemned.

Vesper Hyde is a model Penitent. Solitary. Skilled. Deadly. Only once has she ever lost a target, even though it almost cost her life. Now the one that got away is back with a vengeance, and this time he’s determined to finish the job. She needs to overcome the whispers of doubt and let her instinct and training take over to redeem her failure. But on this second time around, she doesn’t expect a sidekick. A very sexy, stubborn, human sidekick.

Homicide Detective Decker Price has seen it all, including the murder of his wife at the hands of a twisted serial killer. When another murder pitches him headfirst into a world of vampires, witches, and sorcery, he is given a chance to mend shattered parts of his soul. But Vesper’s world is as dark and alluring as the Penitent herself and he will come face to face with echoes of his past in order to help her keep a vicious enemy at bay.

If they are to succeed, they will need to push aside both their failings and work together to ensure the balance of their worlds remains unchanged. Redemption comes at a cost – is their love worth the price?

More vampire-y goodness…you know you can’t resist!

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Suspense/Vampires

Price: $3.94

Blurb: “Do you believe in things that go bump in the night?”

At only a few hours old, Angela is left on the steps of St Paul’s church. Alone in the world, the only link she has to her past is a pink blanket bearing an emblem with two crossed swords and a snake.

A troubled childhood spent in orphanages leads to Angela attempting to rebuild her shattered life as an adult. Meeting the priest who found her eighteen years previously, she gets a job and a boyfriend, and settles into her new life.

Until she meets Jack.

Drawn to her new boss, she throws herself into work, feeling an unusual bond with people she hasn’t known very long.

Angela becomes embroiled in this new life, feeling a change within herself. A change which isn’t altogether human. Within this change she finds a terrifying secret…a secret which involves her past, her present, and definitely her future…

This is one of the funniest books you will read this year – what writer hasn’t wondered this?

Genre: Contemporary/Humour

Price: $3.76

Blurb: Polly writes chick lit and her debut novel is a worldwide bestseller. However, something strange starts to happen when she gets back from an international book tour. Polly finds that instead of art imitating life, her life starts to imitate art – or rather, her novel.

She arrives home to find her husband in the arms of the maid. Wasn’t that in Chapter Three of her book, Happily Ever After?

Her best friend is having an affair with her husband, too, and is pregnant! Isn’t that in Chapter Four?

Then she meets a bronzed Greek and embarks on a passionate love affair. Wasn’t that in Chapter Seven?

Will anyone believe her life is mirroring her novel? Can she prevent the ultimate tragedy or must the book play out, precisely as she wrote it, to the bitter end?

Her agent recommends that Polly go and live Happily Ever After on the proceeds of her book, and keep away from drama!

The beginning to an awesome YA series – that cover alone should entice you! 🙂

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Drama

Price: $3.98

Blurb: The “Phantom” was a musical phenomenon that Rebecca had always found enchanting. She had no idea that her life was about to mirror the play that was her obsession. When her high school drama club chooses “Phantom” as their annual production, Rebecca finds herself in the middle of an unlikely love triangle and the target of a sadistic stalker who uses the lines from the play as their calling card.

Rebecca lands the lead role of Christine, the opera diva, and like her character, she is torn between her two co-stars—Tom the surfer and basketball star who plays the lovable hero, and Justyn, the strangely appealing Goth who is more than realistic in the role of the tortured artist.

Almost immediately after casting, strange things start to happen both on and off the stage. Curtains fall. Mirrors are shattered. People are hurt in true phantom style. They all seem like accidents until Rebecca receives notes and phone calls that hint at something more sinister. Is Justyn bringing to life the twisted character of the phantom? Or in real life are the roles of the hero and the villain reversed? Rebecca doesn’t know who to trust, but she knows she’s running out of time as she gets closer and closer to opening night. Only when the mask is stripped away, will the twenty first century phantom finally be revealed.

The first book in another awesome series – plus be sure to check out the rest of this fab author’s books!

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Werewolves & Shifters

Price: $4.08

Blurb: **Not for readers under the age of 18+. Contains language and adult situations.**

Gabriel Slade runs Hollywood with his gorgeous blue eyes and egregious temper. No one knows that underneath it all is a man with a frozen heart, cursed to become a beast at every full moon. For seven days he has no choice but to roam the earth as a vicious animal, until he meets a woman who can change it all.

Luna Grace has a hatred for everything Gabriel Slade stands for, but she doesn’t even know what he looks like. When a chance encounter reveals feelings Luna never knew she harboured, it stands to reason that she would run.

Can Luna overcome her hatred and break the curse? Or will Gabriel’s temper keep her from realizing her true feelings, dooming him to remain the beast forever?

Another brilliant book in a series – doesn’t that title just make you wonder what’s inside?

Genre: Romance/Contemporary

Price: $4.11

Blurb: “You can’t leave me because I’ll only ever love you.”

What was supposed to be a final goodbye turned into one last piece of unfinished business for Brody Walsh.

As long as Aggie Walker’s heart still belongs to him, he’s destined to remain in limbo, watching over her.
But when her family decides to send her to Scotland for the summer and she meets Camden MacTavish, it seems despite their constant head-butting that there may be something more between them.

That is, if she is willing to let Camden in.

As Aggie finds herself torn between her lover lost and her lover anew, it becomes clear that she cannot hold on to both. If she decides to let Camden into her heart, she will have to let Brody go. And if she can’t let Brody go, she risks losing Camden-and a second chance at love.
Forever.

That cover is the first thing that drew me in – gorgeous and so Lovecraftian!

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Price: $2.05

Blurb:Bookstore owner and novice antiquarian, Sebastian Kaine is proud of his new profession and even prouder still of the collection of antique books on the occult that he keeps locked away in the basement of his bookstore. But his little utopia is shattered one night when he wakes up in that same basement, bound and bloodied, and his prized collection all but destroyed. Making matters worse are the two strange men responsible for the carnage. They want The Seals of Abgal and insist Sebastian is in possession of it. Though he denies having any knowledge of the book, Sebastian soon finds himself at the receiving end of a brutal interrogation–one, he fears, he may not survive.

As he fights to stay alive, Sebastian will learn that The Seals of Abgal is no ordinary grimoire for it holds powerful secrets. Secrets that are older than time itself. And those that hunt it are driven by a hate even older than the secrets themselves.

**The Seals of Abgal is a dark fantasy novella of 20,892 words, or about 128 paperback pages.**

Awesome crime drama stories written with true grit. Great to see old-school crime drama is still out there!

Genre: Crime Thriller/Drama/Historical

Price: $2.96

Blurb: Edinburgh 1745.

Deep beneath the rain soaked and wind scoured streets of the city a foul crime committed in the dark of night leaves two men lying dead in a dank cellar. A bankrupt young nobleman with an addiction to the twin vices of gambling and loose women stands accused of the horrific double murder and all the evidence seems to point towards his guilt. In desperation his lawyer turns to the one man in Edinburgh who can save him from the hangman’s noose.

Robert Young of Newbiggin.

He is a young man who has earned a reputation amongst the city’s legal fraternity for being the one person who can root out the truth by venturing into the capital’s criminal underbelly. His investigation leads from the elegant drawing rooms of Edinburgh’s high society to the city’s most infamous brothel and into the grim hovels of the lowest alehouses on the Cowgate.

But as more bodies are discovered Robert Young is forced to confront the possibility that his client may actually be guilty!

So that’s your lot! Still, I think ten books is an awful lot to be getting on with, right? 🙂 I hope you do decide to pick some of these great books up, and hopefully enjoy them! Remember, an indie author puts a lot of work into a book that will cost less than that coffee and chocolate bar you were going to pick up – yes, I know! – and it’s going to leave you with that happy feeling for an awful lot longer. Plus you get to go back to it if you really loved it, and you’re never going to make that chocolate bar come back. So go on, grab one of them before your sugar craving kicks in. 😉

Well, this is a turn up for the books! Another bad ‘book’ joke, I’m sorry. 😛 Amazon has published Keeper of Shadows a lot earlier than it was supposed to go up, so you can officially get your copy now! Just scroll down to find out a little more about the book. And if you do pick it up, thank you so much for your support, and I hope you really enjoy it. 🙂 ❤

The year is 2038.

Feoran has followed through on his promise to enslave humanity, and humanity is being crushed under his oppression. Anyone who rebels is sent to the Factory.

Until one woman, Psyche Tawton, decides to run.

And she will prove his undoing.

Psyche leads an everyday life—well, for someone alive in the era of the Clan’s long shadow. A single event involving her best friend and her friends’ vampire master puts her on a road to rebellion, causing a ripple that will change the course of history, and the lives of those she comes into contact with.

Then she meets Torolf.

A werewolf with a chequered past, Torolf is instantly intrigued when he lays eyes on the violet-eyed beauty, but the wolf within him cannot accept a human as his mate. But deciding whether they should give in to their desires is the least of their troubles, as Feoran sets them firmly in his sights and makes them the centrefold for his newest horrific campaign. Starting with her best friend sent over to the Factory.

With the help of Torolf, the other immortals, and the Human Rebellion, Psyche will be the catalyst for the most important change in human history since the Clan took over. But she will also be the catalyst for her own fate, unlocking a secret about herself that is so destructive…

Morning, folks! (very early morning if you’re in the UK like me!) Today we’ve got Theodore Webb over with us for our ‘A Day In The Life Of…’ post, sharing a little about his day and some writing tips! Enjoy! 🙂

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…THEODORE WEBB

A day in the life of a writer equals a day in the life of a hard life. You can do almost anything else and make more money (that being said, it’s not about the money). Writers like me, particularly us “indie writers,” often cannot devote 100 percent of our time to writing.

As much as I would like to focus completely on writing, marketing and everything else required of an “indie writer,” I must continually find ways to pay my bills, which means picking up part-time jobs and so forth.

For me, there isn’t a “typical writing day.” I write whenever I can make it happen.

Being a writer also means being a reader, so you have to squeeze in your reading time too. I usually wake up around 8 a.m. I make a bowl of oatmeal, a pot of coffee, read current events, news, blogs and a book.

I have a few rules and suggestions which help me stay on track and complete projects. Here are five tips about the daily writing life, which I hope will also help you with your own writing:

1. Join a writing group or groups. I’m a member of the Morgantown Writers Group (MWG) that meets at the public library as well as the M.T. Pockets Theatre Company Playwrights Group. I’m also a founding member of Morgantown Poets. Between these three groups, I’m often at writers’ meetings several times a month on weekday evenings. These groups keep me busy, inspired and engaged. No one can truly do everything alone. It’s good to be social. If I get overly involved with my own writing or reading, I have a tendency to go too long without seeing people. I’m fortunate to live in a small town with a thriving and supportive writing community. My friends and fellow artists continually inspire me. They tell me what in my writing needs more work. They also help keep me from getting too much inside my own head.

2. Write something new for each group meeting. This is my personal rule for my participation in the groups with which I’m involved. Before every meeting, I must have new writing to share. For example, with the M.T. Pockets Playwrights Group, I must write a new scene before every meeting. With Morgantown Poets, I try to have at least three new poems to share at every event. Many writers give themselves deadlines. This is my way of holding to a deadline. It ensures that I’m always writing new work.

3. Promote your work. Writers wear many hats. “Shameless self-promotion,” as a friend of mine used to say, is one of those hats. Think about it. You labor for months or years on your novel. And the writing is good. But what good is it if no one knows about it? If you don’t promote your work, then people won’t be able to discover it. I’m continually amazed by how many authors labor to write books, but then do little to promote their books. For those authors who actively promote their books, the competition is stiffer than ever before. Have you looked on Twitter lately? If you’re following authors on social media, as I do, then you’ll notice every other Tweet amounts to “Buy my book!” I don’t think these particular kinds of Tweets are very effective, but I give props to those authors for elbowing their way in there and promoting the heck out of their work. They’re light years ahead of the author who does nothing to promote his book. You have to figure out a strategy for promoting your work. You may find that a fourth of your time or more is devoted to promoting your work while another fourth is engaging with readers and other writers.

4. Chaos is overrated.Organize. Saving time takes time. Schedule about 15 minutes each day to get better organized. Creativity may flourish in chaos for some folks, but it’s frustrating no matter who you are if you’re wasting an hour scrambling through that stack of papers looking for that short story you sketched out a month ago. That said, don’t be a perfectionist. Done is better than perfect. If you’re spending more time trying to organize everything, washing dishes, cleaning, mowing grass or any chore besides writing or promoting your writing, then, as a writer, you’re probably wasting even more time. I’m not saying to neglect your responsibilities, but you need to make sure other members of the family are pulling their weight too. Everyone should be respectful of your time and writing career. The whole family needs to work together for each member to be successful.

5. Don’t forget to exercise daily. You may ask, “How exactly does exercise connect with the writing lifestyle?” I often find I’m spending far too much time sitting behind the screen. We all need a break. As the old saying goes, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” I’m not necessarily talking about strenuous activity. In my 20s, I ran 10-milers. While running many miles can be aerobic, it can also put quite a bit of stress on your bones and joints, particularly if you run on pavement. Today I’m happy simply riding my bicycle a few miles on the rail trail. These bike rides relax me and bring peace to my mind. I often get new ideas or solve a problem with a character or plotline when I’m not thinking about writing. I recommend you find an outdoor activity that is enjoyable to you. It could be walking, swimming, jogging, a short hike in the woods, fishing; simply anything that you find fun. Ideally the activity should involve mild to moderate exercise to get your body and your creative juices moving.

Hope this post has shared some insights into a day in my writing life and also given you a few tips that you may find helpful in your own career in the arts. If you’ve found this post helpful, by all means, share this post with your friends and associates. For more writing tips, essays and more, bookmark my website, http://www.theodorewebb.com.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN INDIE ROMANCE WRITER …

After a night spent with hunky Raphael, the alarm goes off at an astonishingly early six a.m. Even though I have no desire to climb out from underneath warm covers and leave Raphael, I must get up to keep my body in shape. Ah, yes, the dreaded workout and exercise. A few laps in my indoor pool should do the trick.

Half asleep, I stumble to the sliding glass door. I force it open with all my strength because my night with Raphael has zapped most of my energy. I step out onto my adjoining deck to dip my toes into the heated water of the shimmering pool only to discover my toes have landed in Beau’s water dish. Beau is my loyal little, bug-eyed pug. But when I finally come to my senses, when I finally come out of my dream-like state enough to realize I don’t have an indoor pool, Beau gives me one of his looks that clearly says, “Crazy woman. I knew I should’ve gone to live with the dog whisperer, Cesar Millan, when I had the chance.”

I decide coffee is what I need to wake up and plenty of it. After I wander into my gourmet kitchen, a voice from the walk-in pantry calls to me. “What can I fix the most talented, the most awesome writer in the business this morning for breakfast? Your wish is my command.”

As I drift over to the coffee pot, I tell my personal chef, “You know what I like. An egg white omelet with an avocado on the side and a toasted muffin with a tall glass of orange juice.”

I sigh. Another bubble bites the dust and it isn’t even six-thirty yet.

Over my bowl of gruel, which grows cold while I pour my own cup of coffee, we go over the day’s schedule. I mention I should probably set up a meeting with my marketing department, my publicist, and my agent. I remind my personal secretary that my agent is brokering a deal to sell the rights forPromise Cove to Disney for several million dollars.

He nods back but counters, “We do have that trip planned to the grocery store for later because the cupboard’s getting bare. Plus, we’re out of toilet paper. As for the meeting with your department heads, I did get a confirmation that Del Taco is continuing Taco Tuesday so we’ll set up lunch there. How’s that sound?”

“I do like tacos,” I muttered into my cereal. “But just once, couldn’t we splurge and go to that cute little restaurant over the water for shrimp and lobster?”

He shakes his head. “That’ll blow the budget for this month.”

I sigh again. Time to head back into my fantasy world. The voices in Pelican Pointe are calling to me.

Welcome, lovely people! Today we’ve got an uber-special ‘A Day In The Life Of…’ post – because it comes from the awesome Dani Morgan on her book tour of Insanely Drawn! Read further down after Dani herself takes a seat, and see why you really, really should grab a copy of the amazing debut novel.

A Day in The Life Of… Dani Morgan

It’s nine o’clock in the morning and my eyes pop open. Eureka! I know how to fix the scene that has been plaguing me for over a week. My dreams have revealed the perfect solution. I think I hear the heavens opening up and the choir singing… oh crap. It’s just my eleven year old and he’s awake. That means no writing for me yet. Maybe if I sneak out of bed and am very quiet, he won’t hear the computer turning on. Okay, I’m successfully tip toed out of bed, so far so good. I’m almost there, I can feel it. Crack!

“OOOOOCH,” I scream out. Not only have I alerted my person pain in the… sorry, my totally independent, non-clingy baby boy that I am awake, but I’ve broken my baby toe on the bleeping bookcase. Lovely. By the way, what good are these tiniest of toes? Mine have done nothing for me but repeatedly find corner of walls, doorframes, and hard edges and then snap in the other direction.

So my child runs in to check on me, wants to see if I’m alright, and then proceeds to ask me what’s for breakfast. Welcome to my world.

After an hour of arguing over the merits of pop tarts over bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast for breakfast, I relent and make my son a hot meal. Is he even related to me?

Twenty minutes later, I sit down at my computer and open up the email. Three orders of my daytime job are waiting on me. Check the due date real fast, crap due tomorrow. I have to go out in the field and do drive-bys today. I still giggle when I say that. No, I’m not a gangster but an appraiser. I throw on some clothes, spend another hour begging my son to brush his teeth and use deodorant, and I’m out the door. I plug the addresses into the gps and it’s only then that I notice the locations. I’m going to be out in the field all day.

Six-thirty and I pull into my driveway. I’ve successfully accomplished my goals and only had to take three breaks for food and to pee because of my toddler, er I mean my almost teen-ager. Work behind me, and a boy now occupied with his video game (thank you sony play station), I finally sit down in front of the computer, open up Word and the right doc. I’m now staring at the page and trying desperately to remember what on earth I was going to write when I work up. Nothing. I’m as blank as the page on the screen.

Music… oh music will inspire me. I pull up the playlist and blare it. I never noticed how catchy that song was and now I’m dancing around the room, doing my best air guitar. Okay, okay. It’s now eight o’clock and music is not helping. Maybe I need a distraction and the idea will just pop in my head. I open up G-chat and Facebook. It won’t hurt to open up Candy Crush.

Damn, it’s now two hours later and I can’t remember a thing. I shut down Facebook, shut down G-chat, and now Word is my only distraction. I spend the next hour pounding away, writing whatever pops into my head and I am impressed that I have managed to squeak out 1,500 words. That is, until I read them. Delete, delete, delete.

Frustrated, I turn off my computer, go check on my son (who is snoring with a controller in his hand), turn everything else off, lock the doors, and go to bed. I repeat the same line over and over in my head as I fall asleep. No, not “After all, tomorrow is another day”. That’s not me at all. “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy”, now that’s how I roll.

Trailer

Blurb

Your first job out of college. It’s supposed to be a stepping stone or a transitional job, not the single defining decision that will alter the course of your entire life. Sienna Kennedy never signed on for the craziness, danger and even love that her new job thrust into her world.

But she didn’t run either.

Assigned to a maximum security floor of Western State Hospital for the mentally ill, the last thing she expected to encounter was a reminder of her past.

Cade Collins’ animal magnetism draws her into an unseen world filled with creatures from her wildest imagination. Discovering his story, as well as the very institution in which she works, becomes her obsession. Her every waking moment is consumed with unearthing a way to free the man that has stolen her heart, body and mind.

The secrets Sienna finds will free them of their bonds…or lead them to their doom. Fate flung the two destined souls together, but how can any love survive in such a demented place, filled with peril and danger?

More about the lovely author…

I was always the girl who spent most of her life living in her head, even at an early age. My made up worlds were so much more interesting than real life. In them, anything was possible. I could be a reckless archaeologist digging up a mummy who came to life, terrorize a medieval village by drinking all their blood, start an intergalactic war between rival planets, or ride a wild stallion with a hunky Native brave clad only in a breech cloth, all within the course of a weekend.

Life didn’t stay simple. I had to grow up, get a job, became a wife and mother and put all my dreams on hold. After a change in my life, I found myself a single mom who had plenty of time to fall back into the land of make believe.

One night I opened up my computer and soon several novels were penned. Now I have embarked on a journey to become the person I always envisioned myself to be, an author, sharing my crazy ideas with the world.

NEW RELEASE IN THE HUNTER SERIES

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BLOOD IS HEAVIER – book one in the Hunter Series

Nick Hunter used to be a contract killer. Now he’s cut all links to his former lifestyle and can at last relax and live a normal life. He settles down to married life. He has a son. He adores his little family. Unbeknown to him, shadows from his past step forward to shatter his short-lived peace. His wife is dead, his four-year old son kidnapped and it looks like someone is trying to frame him for murder. Under pressure, broken, is there anything Nick wouldn’t do to rescue his son? A fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat read that will keep you turning the pages to the very end.

Comfortable in the knowledge that his good mate, Tequila, is perfectly able to look after his loved ones, Nick Hunter does exactly what he shouldn’t do and proceeds to track down and eliminate every person involved in his son’s kidnap. But where will the chase end? And has he bitten off more than he can chew? Nick discovers a tangled net of drugs, human slavery and corruption. Will he enter the lion’s den? Will his family stay safe? Will he be framed for murder? Find out July 19th.

“Action!” Dollar shouted. Then, quieter, to her. “Oh, I will enjoy watching your end, Precious. Every single second of it. Every cut, every lick of blood, every morsel of flesh that drops off your body.”

Tequila felt her eyes bulge out of their sockets. She was too terrified to breathe, too stunned to think. And still, the beast walked nearer. He sneered, and then lifted up the scalpel until it was level with his chin.

Behind the gates of an exclusive Lake City neighborhood, prominent businessman Don Chu’s housekeeper has been brutally murdered and his teenage daughter taken. The high-profile case has the Mayor himself sending the case across Detective Stan Brookshire’s desk. He barely has time to digest the details of the two sinister crimes before he’s called to yet another disturbing scene.

This time, at the other end of the city, another murder and attempted kidnapping ring out with a similarity too convenient for coincidence. As the clues fall into place and the evidence mounts, Stan starts to see a pattern emerge. A DNA match, and the two cases now become one. With the help of an unexpected young ally, Stan begins his search for a victim that may still be alive. It’s a race against the clock and across the globe that will test his skills to the absolute limit. Two murders. Two kidnappings. Twice the danger.

The Excerpt:

A loud noise startled Jade from her slight doze. As she straightened up in her chair, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table across the room that held her textbooks. Eleven thirty-five.

Leaning back at her desk, she reached over and felt the bowl of soup Wei-Lee, the family housekeeper, had brought. It had been piping hot but now it was tepid. She estimated she was out less than half an hour.

Another crash came from the direction of the kitchen. What on earth was Wei-Lee doing at this time of night to make that much noise?

Jade started to get up when the door to her room flew open and two almost identical Asian men burst into her room. Grabbing her before she could make a sound, her feet lashed out and knocked the books to the floor as they dragged her toward the door.

“You’re coming with us,” one of the men said in a thick, Chinese accent. “You can either come quietly or we’ll drag you out.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you take me anywhere!” she yelled, struggling against them. Their grip loosened and this time she racked her nails across one man’s cheek. Crying out in pain, he released her arm to protect his face.

She ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs hoping to find Wei-Lee or something to defend herself. Jade heard them running after her. Chancing a glance over her shoulder, she saw they were right behind her as she raced through the house trying to get to the kitchen.

She was almost there when a man stepped out of the doorway, into her path. He was Asian but what caught her attention was the knife in his hand. Red liquid dripped from it onto the tile floor. She managed to duck around him and into the kitchen where she was halted at the sight of Wei-Lee. She lay dead in a slowly spreading pool of blood.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and tried to spin her around. Her reflexes drove her forward, jumping over the housekeeper’s body she dove for the cordless phone to dial 911. She managed to dial two digits before the phone was knocked out of her hand and it went flying across the floor.

Rough hands grabbed her and tore her clothing as she tried to get away. It was useless. They were too strong. It was too much for her. The sight of the dead housekeeper, the men in her house…the blood. There was so much blood.

A hand reached up and put a cloth over her mouth, she fought against it but it was no use. She had no strength left. As her world faded to darkness the last thing she heard was, “Do not hurt her. Ling will not be happy if she is harmed.”

When Witches Go Bad…

First Of The Pagan Year Warriors

Samhain - it all goes wrong for one young woman when she and a friend play with the shadows one night...

A Grim Reaper With A Difference…

When a headstrong young man dies, he is given the chance to redeem himself...and another.

The Grim Alliance Continues…

Gabe has a past even the other Reapers shudder at...will it haunt him forever?

The Third Installment Of The Grim Alliance

Alisha was always close to her sister - but can she stand by when her life is threatened, even knowing she will no longer be a Reaper?

The Fourth Book In The Grim Alliance

No one's love life is easy - but when twins Drew and Devin fall for the same girl, it can be catastrophic...

The Grim Alliances Continues!

Mika has always felt more out of place and time than the other Reapers - but will she be in time to rescue a Valkyrie she can't take her eyes off?

The Book That Started Them All…

A werewolf tale that combines suspense, romance, thriller, and horror. The first book I ever wrote.

The Book That Continued Erin And Conner’s Story…

The continuation of Conner and Erin's story, with more twists and turns, more werewolves, and more plot surprises you never saw coming.

The Final Chapter To Conner And Erin…

Yes, I've been nudged into deciding to write the final book for Conner and Erin. It was never meant to be written, but it's going to focus on Filtiarn and what happened between the ancient events, and the present day.